The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-04-21

glowing, l opened the door OF the trad
ing post by removing the cover of the
can, and waited for my customer, who
speedily plunged into commerce. I some.
times thought that he regarded me with
friendly contempt, evinced by the care
less offering of utterly worthless articles
for barter. Then would mildly rebuke
him and shut up the trading post for a
few days. When he had been reduced by
a rigid enforcement of the non Inter-
course act to hunger and humility,
would open my port of commerce and he
would promptly and shamelessly plunder
me.
When I left the cabin I left a few
pounds of crackers and dried fruit In an
uncovered box for my friend. Two
months afterward looked into the cabin
to find the provision gone and in its place
heap of rubbish, among which was q
small tobacco pipe which I supposed had
lost. My predatory friend came out of his
nest to see me. He sat on wall-log and
winked both of his bright eyes at me as
though to say, "How are you, old boy
| am glad to see you" and then came
down the logs, one by one, with great
deliberation, never removing his eyes
from me, and sat upright on the
floor. Evidently he was going to speak.
l could almost hear him say, Lets
trade" feared that he would wave his
hand horizontally under his right ear and
endeavor to beguile me into disastrous
commercial transactions If l stayed there
an instant longer. So 1 hurriedly said: /:
mo, not to-day. don't want anything.
Goodbye" and left him forever.
That fall lived in a two-story, double
roDfaI 1o,r bou,o rTLn.o ,,,orc to~- ,,or
row spaces about eight inches deep be-
abutted against the unchinked second
story. Shortly after we began to live in
the house a pair of trading rats came to
board with us. They built nest in one
of the spaces between the roofs and sys-
tematically plundered my wife and me.
They carried pounds of stolen goods to
their nest, and then they established a
warehouse in a long, narrow box which
lay on the roof ties. We kept step-lad-
der standing below this warehouse, and if
my wife found lump of mortar, or a
white and presumably choice bone, or
chip in her work basket instead of a
spool of thread, she would make disparag-
ing remarks about trading rats and go up
stairs to their warehouse and do little
ITdUlux Ou ueT OWN account.
The habit of the trading rats to replace
articles which they stole with bits of rub
bish, or other articles which they had pre-
viously stolen and apparently wearied of
possessing, impressed me. as very queer
manifestation of instinct. ! was, and
am, unable to explain it. The rats would
remain quiet for few nights. Then,
some evening after dark, they would en-
1,ov l. To- N osc1 IS
nitude, and throughout that night they
would work arduously. They might trade
dried apples and crackers from their store
for prunes. If they did they dropped the
articles they bartered into the prune box.
Then they would remain quiet for few
days: Then the leaving of the lid off the
dried peach box would cause them to
again engage in commerce, and that night
they would carry the peaches of, prob
ably trading the prunes they had pre-
viously stolen for the peaches, or they
might trade rubbish. The selection OF
the articles they bartered seemed to be
by whim only, and never by
Another animal in which I was greatly
interested when l lived in the Rocky
Mountains was the "snowshoe rabbit"
These rabbits live in the dense timber.
l cannot recall to have ever seen one in
the open. In summer they are grayish in
color, in winter almost white. They are
twice as large as the common
cOttOn-tail rabbit, but are really little
heavier. They have starved, spectre
like appearance. They are not numerous.
For days the hunters will not see a snow
shoe rabbit; then, when he is slowly
picking his way through dense timber,
one of these gaunt spectres appears be-
fore him. I have been startled by the
appearance of one of these rabbits d.
rectly In front of me when l was stalk
Ing elk and dared not shoot for fear of
alarming the noble game, and l was
never able to find the form from which
i sprang, and have searched diligently
for 1t. They are strictly highland rab-
bit and never descend into the valleys;
nor do the jack rabbits, which live on the
plains and course over the foothills, en-
Ter the timber. The two animals resem-
Dle each other closely, but the distin-
characteristic Of the snowshoe
rabbit is its Immense feet, which are cov-
cred with long, fine hair to the extremi-
ties of its toes. This provision of ma
lure is one of the most remarkable of
which l have knowledge. The animal
nhabits region which is annually and
inevitably covered with deep snow. From
fifteen to thirty feet of snow falls in the
Rocky Mountains every winter Il meas
Ire as the snow falls, not after It IL
,acked.) The rabbits which live in a
region where there is such an immense
all Of light snow must be able to travel
,ver its surface In search of food and to
escape from carnivorous animals and the
ierce birds of prey which abound in the
highlands. Supported by feet OF ordi-
lary size these rabbits would sink into
he snow and die. Nature has equipped
hem with immense feet, the spread of
which Is as large as the hand of q child
If twelve years. This enables them to
ravel over light snow with the ease that
! man shod with snowshoes does.
As said, the tracks made by this
lnimal are very large. When they are
irst seen the spectator is apt to draw
ong breath, and say to himself: "Well,
he father of all the rabbits has passed
long this trail. That rabbit, to Judge
~ the size of its tracks, will weigh forty
pounds. l will follow It and shoot It,
md afterward make several pot-pies."
l once followed the track of q snow
hoe rabbit for two miles, and was con-
ident that was going to find game of
'ize. When / saw the timid, spectre-like
creature, sitting under bush, I would
hardly believe that the tracks which
had followed were made by 90 insignif-
amt an animal ! shot 1t, but the heavy